Delaware Route48 (DE48) is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from DE 41 in Hockessin east to U.S. Route 13 Business (US13 Bus.) in downtown Wilmington. The route passes through suburban areas of Wilmington along Lancaster Pike, intersecting DE 100 and DE 141. DE48 continues into Wilmington as Lancaster Avenue and intersects DE 2, where it splits into the one-way pair of Lancaster Avenue eastbound and Second Street westbound. Upon reaching downtown Wilmington, the route intersects Interstate 95 (I-95)/US 202 and DE 4 before continuing to the eastern terminus.

What is now DE48 was originally built as the Lancaster Pike in 1817, a turnpike that was to connect Wilmington to the Gap and Newport Turnpike. The turnpike became county-maintained in 1877. The Lancaster Pike was designated DE48 by 1936, with the route continuing east through Wilmington to the Wilmington-Penns Grove Ferry across the Delaware River, where it connected to Route 48 in Penns Grove, New Jersey. The ferry was discontinued in 1949 and the eastern terminus of DE48 was cut back to its current location by 1952.

Route description

DE48 begins at an intersection with DE 41 in Hockessin, heading southeast on Lancaster Pike, a two-lane undivided road. The road runs through wooded areas and residential development, crossing Loveville Road and Hyde Run before curving east and gaining a westbound truck lane as it descends a hill. The route widens into a four-lane divided highway before crossing the Wilmington and Western Railroad at-grade and Red Clay Creek. The road passes residential areas and business parks as it crosses Centerville Road. DE48 crosses Little Mill Creek and comes to an intersection with DE 100/DE 141, at which point DE100 forms a concurrency with DE48. The two routes head southeast as a four-lane undivided road, crossing Chestnut Run and passing through residential and commercial areas. The road crosses an East Penn Railroad line at-grade and runs to the north of a cemetery, with DE100 splitting from DE48 by turning south on South Dupont Road as it passes south of the Cab Calloway School of the Arts and Charter School of Wilmington.

DE48 continues into the city of Wilmington as Lancaster Avenue and heads into urban areas of homes and businesses, with the eastbound direction narrowing to one lane at the intersection with Greenhill Avenue. Following this intersection, the route crosses over CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision railroad line on a bridge. The road narrows to two lanes and passes to the north of another cemetery. The route intersects DE 2, which follows the one-way pair of Lincoln Street northbound and Union Street southbound, in the Union Park Gardens neighborhood.

At this point, DE48 itself splits into a one-way pair that follows Lancaster Avenue eastbound and West Second Street westbound, with westbound DE48 using westbound DE2 (North Union Street) to get from West Second Street to Lancaster Avenue. The one-way pair carries two lanes in each direction. DE48 continues into downtown Wilmington, where it crosses under a viaduct carrying I-95/US 202, with ramp connections to and from the southbound direction of I-95/US202 via Jackson Street, which parallels I-95/US202 to the west.

Upon crossing under I-95/US202, a westbound ramp to I-95/US202 complements the eastbound direction of DE48, with the road becoming Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a six-lane divided highway. Westbound DE48 remains along one-way West Second Street, which carries three lanes. DE48 intersects the eastern terminus of DE 4, which provides access to DE48 from the northbound direction of I-95/US202. The one-way pair continues further into the downtown, passing to the south of the Orlando J. George, Jr. Campus of Delaware Technical Community College, and runs a short distance to the north of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line. The route intersects the southbound direction of US 13 Bus., which shifts west from North King Street to South Market Street where it intersects DE48. At this point, the westbound direction of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard ends. Following the intersection with US13 Bus. southbound, DE48 follows the one-way pair of Front Street eastbound and East Second Street westbound. Along this stretch, the route passes to the north of Wilmington Station along the Northeast Corridor that serves Amtrak and SEPTA's Wilmington/Newark Line, with the train station's parking garage and the Wilmington Bus Station serving Greyhound Lines buses located between Front Street and East Second Street west of the French Street intersection. DE48 reaches its eastern terminus at an intersection with the northbound direction of US13 Bus., which follows Walnut Street, west of the Wilmington Transit Center serving DART First State buses.

DE48 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 38,923vehicles at the DE4 intersection to a low of 11,223vehicles at the Loveville Road intersection near Hockessin. The entire length of DE48 is part of the National Highway System.

History

The Wilmington Turnpike Company was founded on October 23, 1809, to build a turnpike from Wilmington to the Pennsylvania border, connecting to the Gap and Newport Turnpike. The turnpike was completed in 1817 at a cost of $39,549.97. The turnpike became known as the Lancaster Pike and was surfaced with stone. The Wilmington Turnpike Company operated the Lancaster Pike until 1877 when they abandoned the road. The turnpike's charter was repealed and the road was then under the control of the county levy court. The road leading from Wilmington to the Wilmington-Penns Grove Ferry across the Delaware River to Penns Grove, New Jersey, was completed as a state highway by 1931.

By 1936, the Lancaster Pike became a part of DE48. In addition, the route continued through Wilmington on Lincoln Street, Fourth Street, and Christina Avenue to the ferry across the Delaware River to Penns Grove, New Jersey, which linked DE48 to Route 48 in New Jersey. In 1939, DE48 was rebuilt between DE41 and Centre Road, eliminating curves and grades. In 1949, the Wilmington-Penns Grove Ferry was discontinued. DE48 was realigned onto Lancaster Avenue to continue to US 13/US202 (now US13 Bus.), its current eastern terminus, by 1952. By 1990, DE100 was realigned to follow a portion of DE48, bypassing a part of Dupont Road. DE48 was widened into a divided highway at the DE141 intersection by 1996. The divided highway was extended west to Centerville Road a year later.

Major intersections

See also

References

External links

• DE

• Delaware Roads - DE